Holiday Notice: The Office of the Texas Secretary of State will be closed from 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 21, through Friday, November 23, in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday. The office will resume normal operating hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday, November 26. Electronic filing and business document searches will be available through SOSDirect.

Write-In Candidates

In order to become a write-in candidate in the general election, file a Declaration of Write-in Candidacy (PDF) with the Secretary of State or your county judge, as appropriate (see chart), no earlier than July 21, 2018, and no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 20, 2018. Tex. Elec. Code Ann. § 146.025. Your declaration must be accompanied by either a filing fee or a nominating petition (PDF) signed by a certain number of qualified voters. Tex. Elec. Code Ann. §§ 146.023(b), 146.0231, 146.0232. A person who was a candidate for office in the primary election is ineligible for a place on the list of write-in candidates for that same office in the succeeding general election for state and county officers. Tex. Elec. Code Ann. §162.015.

Percentage of all votes for all gubernatorial candidates cast in the applicable territory in the 2014 general election. If number is less than 50, a larger percentage may be required. If number is less than 50, the required number of signatures is the lesser of (1) 50 or (2) 20% of all votes for all gubernatorial candidates cast in the applicable territory in the 2014 general election. Tex. Elec. Code Ann. §§ 146.0232, 172.025.

Pay higher fee if county has at least 200,000 inhabitants according to 2010 Census.

The minimum number of signatures that must appear on a candidate’s petition for statewide office is 5000. The minimum number of signatures that must appear on a candidate’s petition for district, county or precinct office is the lesser of (1) 500 or (2) 2% of the total vote received in the district, county or precinct, as applicable, by all gubernatorial candidates in the 2014 general election, subject to (a) above. Tex. Elec. Code Ann. § 172.025.